How to save a friend
by i1976 - blu notte
Summary: Friends are the family you choose: Enos has chosen the Dukes and the Dukes have chosen Enos. When the deputy is in danger, the Dukes will be involved in a dramatic and cloudy case, and they will fight in order to save their friend and family.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

"So strange," Bo walked to the Boarding House, "Rosco calling us for help."

"It isn't so strange," Luke glanced at Bo, "if Enos isn't at the Police Department and if he doesn't answer the phone at the Boarding House, I'm not surprised Rosco called us thinking Enos was at the farm."

"Ok, but... WHERE is Enos?" Daisy openly stated the question floating in their minds.

"We're trying to find it out, Daisy, don't worry," Bo turned to her and smiled.

"I'm worrying, instead," Daisy folded her arms around her chest, "'cause it's pretty strange Enos didn't go to the Police Department this morning. His job is everything for him, and he's never late at work."

Bo and Luke glanced at each other, sharing the same worrisome.

"Maybe he got the flu, he's burning with fever and he's unable to answer the phone," Luke tried to calm Daisy down, "anyway, we're goin' to know it pretty soon."

Finally in front of the door of Enos' apartment, the Dukes looked at each other with trepidation and axiety.

"Enos?" Bo gently knocked at the door. "Enos? Are you here, buddy?"

No answer.

"No answer," Bo turned to Luke.

Luke grabbed the doorknob, "The door is open."

From the small opening, the sunlight entered the dark corridor; the Dukes looked at each other, again.

"Come in," Daisy opened the door wide, unable to stand that waiting.

The little room was lightened by the sunlight entering the window.

Bo walked to the bathroom, opening the door, "He isn't here. And it's why he didn't answer the phone. The apartment is empty."

Unmade bed, Enos' uniform on a chair, the gun-belt on the table: Luke's blue eyes stared at every detail in the room.

"Wherever Enos is, he isn't wearing his uniform," Luke pointed at Enos' uniform and gun-belt, then he pointed at the bed, "and he left the apartment in a hurry. He left his apartment in civil clothes, I suppose," he walked to the window and looked down in the street, "and with his personal car. His ol' station wagon isn't parked in front of the Boarding House as usual."

Daisy glanced at Enos' white t-shirt and black trousers (his usual outfit for the night), "but... WHY? Whatever happened, why didn't he warn Rosco 'bout his bein' late at work?" Her heart beat faster and faster in her chest, "Something bad is happened to him, otherwise..." she started to panick.

"Daisy... Daisy... please," Bo came closer her and gently rested his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes, "look at me and keep calm. Stop thinking strange things. Maybe we're worrying too much, and this evening we'll probably be at the Boar's Nest with Enos, laughing of this day. OK?" He tried to smile, but he couldn't hide his worrisome.

"It's pointless to stay here," Luke walked around the little room, observing everything, "Enos isn't here, and there's nothing that could help us to know where he is. Come on, have a check outside the town and warn Rosco."

They came out the Boarding House and they walked to the General Lee; Luke grabbed the C.B. and called Rosco: strange thing, Rosco calling the Dukes for help and the Dukes calling Rosco for help.

"His car is in Yellow Creek," Rosco's voice came out the C.B. receiver, a strange tension in his tone, "Silas just called me 'cause he noticed and recognized Enos' car."

"Is Enos OK?" Daisy grabbed the C.B. receiver from Luke's hand, "How's Enos?"

A silence full of tension, seconds seeming hours, prefaced Rosco's final words, "Enos isn't there, but Silas told me there is blood on the car's door. Now, HURRY UP, we have to find that dipstick!"

Daisy looked in shock at her cousins, "Blood? Enos' blood?" her voice a whisper as Bo and Luke glanced at each other with fear in their eyes.

"Come on, Rosco is waiting for us. We have to find out what's happening!" Luke woke up from his shocked state and came in The General Lee, followed by his cousins: the image of them laughing with Enos at the Boar's Nest in the evening faded.


	2. Her freckles in the sunlight

**HER FRECKLES IN THE SUNLIGHT**

_ATLANTA MEDICAL CENTER_

Nurse Emily O'Neill stirred. New day-shift in the I.C.U., and she was still tired because of the previous shifts: she just wanted to have a long and peaceful holiday.

She looked at the stretcher entering the I.C.U. and she sighed.

"What's goin' on?" Emily walked to the nurses pushing the stretcher in.

"Male, 30 years old, more or less," a young nurse answered her question.

Emily rolled her eyes: "_more or less,_" what did _"more or less"_ mean? She glanced at the young nurse and she shook her head: youngsters, they didn't know the importance of precision.

Pretending not to notice her older colleague's reproaching look, Anne Greenwald kept on talking, "Early in the morning he arrived in our E.R. in critical condition: severe head injury and penetrating abdominal trauma," she glanced at Emily, another reproaching look from her, "… gunshot wound, to be more precise."

Emily O'Neill nodded and Anne Greenwald sighed in relief, keeping on her report.

Emily nodded again, now satisfied of the younger colleague; she carefully listened to the procedures and operation the man underwent, and she carefully listed everything in her nursing record.

"OK, thanks Anne," Emily approached the stretcher and helped her colleagues to transfer that 'male, 30 years old, more or less' from the stretcher to the I.C.U.'s bed, carefully because of all the tubes and infusions. She checked his endotracheal tube, central venous access catheter, various draining tubes, and she connected him to the monitor.

"Ok, bye Emily," Anne stretched her arms above her head, trying to relax her back's muscles: that man was really heavy, and she felt like if her back was breaking.

"Hey, wait, but…" Emily scanned the medical and nursing reports of E.R. and operating room.

Anne nodded, "Yeah."

Emily O'Neill sighed, her eyes on the reports.

_132, #356789 - __John Doe - male, white, likely between the age of 25 and 35, brown hair and hazel eyes – Height 6'2" – Weight 200. Only mark: old surgical scar for appendicitis._

"He had no wallet with him, so no way to identify him," Anne shrugged, "John Doe."

Emily O'Neill closed her eyes and had a deep breathe: John Doe meant just a very bad and tiring time in the I.C.U.

* * *

_HAZZARD_

"Yeah, it's Enos' car, and it's blood, no doubt 'bout it," Luke walked around Enos' car, trying to catch any other possible sign, then he glanced at Silas, "When did you find it?"

The man touched his long white beard, thoughtfully, "Early this morning. It was strange to have the car here, nobody nearby. When I came closer, I noticed the door open, and blood on it. I recognized Enos' ol' car, though I wasn't so sure 'bout it, and I called Rosco."

Rosco nodded at Silas' words, showing a wallet in his hands, "It's Enos' wallet, and it was inside the car".

"So, do you think it's Enos' blood?" Daisy forced her voice out her dry throat, a hoarse and scared voice, "Maybe… Maybe the car hit an animal, and…" she shook her head. Her idea was stupid, and she knew it: if Enos' car had simply hit an animal, Enos would have driven back to the town 'cause the car wasn't damaged to the point to be useless, or he would have called for help. Her idea was stupid but she couldn't help but grabbing any other possible idea rejecting the basic idea that the blood on the car' door was Enos' blood.

"Look," Bo knelt down, "here, these signs in the dust. I think…" he looked up at Luke, avoiding Daisy's eyes, "I think it's blood, drops of blood."

Luke knelt down by his younger cousin's side, staring at the dark liquid marking the road's dust, "Yeah, it could be blood."

The two cousins followed those drops until they stopped.

"Here, the drops stop…" Luke shook his head and scratched his hair, "…tires' marks," he stood up from his crouched position, "Someone probably pushed Enos in a different car after injuring him."

Bo stayed in his crouched position, staring at the blood and tires' marks in the dust, "Yeah, it's the most probable thing, though…" he shook his head in disappointment, "… maybe Enos simply had a car accident and someone helped him, bringing him to the Hospital." Like Daisy, he was trying to grab a calming hypothesis.

"Yeah, maybe. But why did Enos leave the Boarding House in a hurry, in civil clothes and with his personal car?" Luke words cold Bo's hope down, "I think someone called Enos, and Enos reached him here. Then, something happened: probably someone hit Enos on purpose after calling him here," Luke shook his head in discomfort, "I'd like to find another explanation, but… I can't."

Daisy stared at the stain on Enos' car, a rounded dark red stain with some smears parting from it; she visualized Enos' bloody hand as he tried to stand up before to fall down, being the rounded stain his palm and the smears his fingers tracing his falling down. Overwhelmed by that terrific vision, Daisy burst out crying.

* * *

_ATLANTA MEDICAL CENTER_

"Maybe he's a criminal. Gunshot wound, uh? Maybe he's part of a gang. There are too much gangs in Atlanta, lately."

Nurse Emily O'Neill moved her eyes from her nursing reports to her colleague Dolly, "I don't think it's a criminal, Dolly. Maybe I'm wrong, but he doesn't look like a criminal. Too much… clean: no tattoos and no scars of previous gunshots or stabbings; also his hairstyle is too much clean for a gang's member. Anyway, some cops came this morning to get his fingerprints, so, if he's a recorded criminal, we'll know it. No answers from his fingerprints, anyway, otherwise we'd see some cops guarding him, right now."

"Ok, maybe he isn't a recorded criminal but anyway a criminal. I still think he's a member of a gang."

Emily shook her head, annoyed by her colleague's imaginative and offensive suppositions, "He isn't a member of a gang. He's been brought here in Atlanta because of his critical condition, but he hasn't been injured in Atlanta. He was found in…," she looked up at the ceiling trying to remember, "Rockdale County? I don't remember."

"An escaping criminal," Dolly folded her arms, "but his rival gang found him."

Emily stood up and walked away, "You know, I'm annoyed. Maybe he's just a poor guy victim of an armed robbery, and it's why he had no wallet and ID card with him. And probably his family is looking for him, in despair."

Dolly felt the rage in Emily's voice and looked down at the floor, "Sorry… I didn't want to…" She stopped, unsure if openly apologize: everybody knew Emily's son died when he was 26 years old, killed during an armed robbery in New York, where he lived, while he was going back home after working in a pub, late at night, and Emily had to recognized his corpse (marked as John Doe 'cause he had no wallet with him) in the coroner's refrigerated room, some days after his death. Dolly had a deep sigh, "Sorry, you're right. I've been insensitive and disrespectful to that man. I hope his family is going to find him."

Emily smiled sadly, "OK, stop arguing, now," she stared at the man lying unconscious and she carefully took a blood sample for examination from the central venous access catheter, "Doc Hunt said he's going to recover. He nearly died but he's going to survive, though Doc doesn't know when he is going to wake up, maybe tomorrow or maybe next week… or maybe… we can't know it. If his family won't find him, or if cops won't find his family, well, he'll tell us his name when he'll wake up. For his sake, he's still alive, he isn't a corpse unable to talk."

Dolly nodded, "Yeah. I'm curious to know his name and where he comes from: in effect, you're right, he doesn't look like a criminal, and he's also cute. I wonder if he has a girlfriend."

Emily rolled her eyes, smiling "Go to work, Dolly, PLEASE!" She glanced at the dark haired man, _"Are you dreaming of your family, John Doe?"_

* * *

"_Hey Enos!"_

_Enos turned to the clear voice, the voice he loved so much: Daisy Duke was standing in front of him, and, as many times before, he held his breathe._

_She was beautiful._

_His eyes slid along her long legs, her short shorts, her tight and low-necked blue shirt, and her face._

_Her face: in the sunlight her green hazel eyes were turning into a blue-green shade (he was amazed by her eyes' shade changing in the light), some freckles were visible on her candid and perfect skin, and her brown hair showed a blonde shade. _

_And her smile: so sweet and open._

_He tried to walk to her but he fell face down._

* * *

_HAZZARD_

Sitting at the kitchen's table for dinner, the Dukes were silently praying for Enos, their hands joined in front of their face, their elbows on the table, their head down and their eyes closed.

"Amen."

Uncle Jesse's voice broke the deep silence.

They didn't look at each other but they looked down at their dishes, unable to eat.

"I can't eat, I'm sorry, I'm too much distressed," Bo stood up and walked in the kitchen as a lion in cage, "We tried to follow those tires marks, but…" he shook his head admitting their discomfiture.

Luke had a deep breathe and folded thoughtfully his arms, "Rosco is calling other Counties' Sheriffs to warn them 'bout Enos' missing."

"Or maybe Enos is still in Hazzard, kidnapped or…" Bo stopped, scared by his own words.

Daisy stood up and ran to her bedroom, slamming the door and sinking into her bed; Bo's words and the image of Enos' blood in her mind, she cried hopelessly, her face buried against the pillow.


	3. Suppositions

**SUPPOSITIONS**

_HAZZARD_

The Dukes moved silently inside the kitchen during breakfast; the sunlight entering the window wasn't cheering them up, nothing could cheer them up.

Four days since Enos' missing and no sign of him, yet.

"Daisy…" uncle Jesse rested his hand on Daisy's shoulder, "eat something, please. It's since…" No need to complete his words, uncle Jesse simply squeezed Daisy's shoulder; his unsaid words were like a heavy and dense fog poisoning them.

Daisy stood up and walked to the window, folding her arms and looking outside, waiting for something; waiting for everything could stop that terrific limbo; waiting for everything but also fearing that 'everything', 'cause 'everything' could mean also the thing Daisy, and the Dukes, rejected.

* * *

Rosco was reading Enos' past reports, trying to find any clue about what happened to his deputy; he rubbed his eyes after that long sleepless night, sleepless night after sleepless night alternated to days spent looking for Enos in any spot inside Hazzard County.

Inside Hazzard County… if Enos was still in Hazzard County.

Rosco had a deep sigh, pushing away his most terrific suppositions, but, day after day, his suppositions became darker and darker.

Reports: maybe the Dukes were right. Rosco scratched his head and focused on those reports, but the fax's pesky hoot interrupted his task.

Annoyed by that hoot, he stared at the paper coming out the fax and at its header: _Rockdale County Sheriff Department._

* * *

"Do you think Rosco found something in Enos' records?" Bo glanced at Luke, resting his fork on the dish, unable to eat.

Luke shrugged, "I don't know. We're goin' to the town to find it out."

Daisy turned to them, "Maybe we're goin' to find something helping us to understand what Enos was working on, and so if he was somehow in danger, and what kind of danger."

Their only hope along the last days: if they couldn't find Enos, they could find a possible reason for Enos' missing, maybe a case he was working on, and so a possible culprit.

"If only that day…" Bo shook his head.

* * *

FLASHBACK

The General Lee stopped in front of Enos' patrol car.

"Hey buddy," Bo came out the car and walked to the patrol car, "are you waiting for people to ticket?"

Luke leaned out of the window, "We are innocent, we weren't running," he glanced at Bo and smiled, "this time."

Enos came out the car, "Hi Bo. Hi Luke. No, no fine for you, this time."

"Before to ticket us, you have to catch us, buddy," Bo patted Enos' shoulder, but his smile faded when he realized Enos wasn't smiling as usual, just a tired smile from him, "Are you OK? Something wrong?"

Enos shook his head and looked down, his lips pressed in his disappointed look, "Just police business," he gently touched his hat's brim, lifting it up a bit.

"Do you need our help? We are friends, you know," Luke came out the car and reached Enos and Bo.

Enos shook his head again, "Police business… I can't talk to you 'bout it. It's really…," he looked around as if someone could hear him and he lowered his voice, "… private."

Bo glanced at Luke and Luke glanced at Bo.

Enos shrugged, "Anyway, nothing to worry 'bout. Thanks for your offer," he smiled.

Bo grinned and patted Enos' back, "OK, but call us if you need some help," then he turned to Luke, "Come on, Mary Beth and Katie are waiting for us."

The cousins walked to The General Lee, ready for their date with Mary Beth and Katie, two pretty twins; Bo turned to Enos before to get into the car, "Hi Enos."

"Hi Bo. Hi Luke. Say hi to uncle Jesse and Daisy," Enos beckoned and smiled, looking at The General Lee leaving.

* * *

"It was nearly one month ago, and Enos didn't talk 'bout it anymore," Luke stood up, "we met him several times, since then, but he didn't look worried, so probably he solved that… police business."

"Yeah… we met him several times, but… not so many times, if you think 'bout it, like if he was really busy. We should have insisted and found out what's goin' on," Bo kept on his self-charge.

"Bo, Luke," uncle Jesse stared at his nephews, "it's pointless to talk about it. IF… IF… IF… Stop it and think of how to find out what's happened to Enos."

"Uncle Jesse is right," Daisy walked closer her cousins, her hands on their shoulders, "Bo, Luke, go to the town and ask Rosco if he found something interesting in Enos' reports."

Bo shook his head in frustration, "Absurd. Rosco not knowing 'bout Enos' job."

Luke folded his arms, "Enos is the only real police officer here, and folks ask Enos for help. He'd do everything to help people."

Daisy nodded and held back her tears, "And, now, WE have to find a way to help him, whatever happened to him."

Luke hugged Daisy, "I promise you, we're goin' to find him."

* * *

_ATLANTA MEDICAL CENTER_

"Nobody for him, yet," nurse Dolly glanced at the man lying motionless in the bed, "John Doe is still John Doe."

Nurse Emily gently removed the bandages covering the man's belly, checking the surgical wound and finally dressing it, "It isn't so easy to find his identity. He was found in Rockdale County but we don't know where he comes from; for sure he doesn't come from Rockdale County. For what I heard, nobody knows him in Rockdale County: it's a small County where people know each other."

Dolly handed Emily some new bandages, observing the careful job of the older nurse, "What a wound. The surgical wound is so visible whereas the wound provoked by the bullet is nearly invisible."

Nurse Emily nodded, "Of course, Dolly. Damages of bullets are internal: entry's small hole but big internal damages. Surgeons did a great job, saving his life, though this scar is going to recall him what he faced, for the rest of his life."

"He's still in coma," Dolly folded her arms, "if only he woke up, he'd tell us his name."

"Head injury," Emily covered the man with the blanket, "but he's showing positive signs, and doctors say he's going to wake up. They don't know when, but he's going to wake up."

"I'm curious to know who is and what happened to him," Dolly checked the monitor and registered the man's vital signs in the nursing record.

"Me too, and I hope we aren't going to wait so long."

* * *

_HAZZARD_

Rosco's patrol car stopped in front of the farm, its tires creaking because of the abrupt stop.

Hearing the car's tires, the Dukes dashed to the door and came out the farm, staring at Rosco walking to them, a paper in his hand.

"Rosco, did you find something in Enos' reports? Any clue 'bout where he is and what happened to him?" Daisy grabbed his arms, frantically.

"No. I didn't find anything in his reports. But this morning I had this from Rockdale County," Rosco passed uncle Jesse the paper.

Uncle Jesse took the paper from Rosco's hand, "Rockdale County?" he looked in confusion at the Sheriff and then at the paper, reading it, "Man… white… between the age of 25 and 35, brown hair and hazel eyes… Height 6'2"… Weight 200," he glanced at Rosco, his mouth dry, and then he kept on reading, sharing just some fundamental words of the paper with his attentive audience, "head trauma and gunshot wound… Atlanta Medical Center… critical conditions…" his eyes opened wide as he stared at the paper and then at Rosco.

"What's that?" Daisy looked alternatively at uncle Jesse and at Rosco, "What does it mean?"

"The night Enos left the Boarding House a man was found in Rockdale County; he was severely injured because of a gunshot wound and head trauma. He had no ID with him, so Rockdale County's Sheriff couldn't identify him. Paramedics brought him to Atlanta Medical Center."

Silence, the men looking at each other and Daisy hugging uncle Jesse and burying her face against his chest.

"Enos' wallet was in his car," Bo swallowed against the lump in his throat, trying to verbalize the puzzle they were composing in their mind, "Man… white… between the age of 25 and 35, brown hair and hazel eyes. Maybe… that man is Enos."

"What about that man, Rosco?" Luke stared at Rosco, his voice low and his blue eyes fixed in Rosco's ones.

Rosco shook his head, averting his eyes, "I don't know. It isn't a medical bulletin but a dispatch about a man found injured in Rockdale County."

Uncle Jesse held Daisy tight, pondering his words, necessary and obvious words, "Nobody called us from Atlanta Medical Center, and that dispatch means that police officers don't know the man's identity, yet. So… the man is dead…" his arms clasped Daisy, trying to stop her trembling, "… or he is unable to say his name because of his critical conditions. It's why his identity is still unknown to doctors and to police officers."

"Well, we have just one way to find it out: go to Atlanta Medical Center, understand if that man is Enos… and so find out if …" Luke stopped, unable to echo uncle Jesse's rational suppositions about the man's destiny.

The men nodded to Luke's words, silently, while Daisy trembled in uncle Jesse's arms.

* * *

**From time to time this story calls me... it doesn't want to be abandoned or put aside for too much time. :-)**


	4. Scent of sun

**SCENT OF SUN**

"I don't know what I should hope, uncle Jesse," sitting in the back seat of The General Lee, Daisy rested her head on uncle Jesse's shoulder, "I hope the man found in Rockdale County is Enos, so ending this wait, but at the same time I don't want to think of Enos… that way."

_Head trauma and gunshot wound… Atlanta Medical Center… critical conditions: _the words written in the report from Rockdale County hovered inside The General Lee in its run to Atlanta, brief grant given to Bo and Luke's probation by County Commissioner J.D. Hogg.

Being Enos missing and being Rosco the only lawman left, the Sheriff couldn't leave Hazzard, so he was sending the Dukes to that hard task. The shocking idea of Enos Strate dead or lying unconscious in a distant Hospital was spreading in Hazzard County like fire through dry straw, to the point even Boss and Rosco were temporary forgetting their personal fight and their tricks against the Dukes, sharing now a common priority: if someone hit Enos Strate, Hazzard's deputy and Dukes' best friend, both Hazzard County Police Department and the Dukes were involved, same side, the side facing a loss.

Daisy squeezed Enos' wallet in her hands, recalling Rosco's words, "_if the man in Atlanta Medical Center is Enos, they'll ask you his ID card"_ So strange to see Rosco acting as police officer (Enos was usually the only one to do his duty and to follow police's procedures), but that situation was so strange that Hazzard County was turning upside down, and, for sure, Boss, Rosco and the Dukes moving in the same direction, driven by a common goal, was pretty rare.

Along the last days Daisy was realizing how much people (Boss, Rosco, folks… everybody) liked Enos and cared of him; she already knew Hazzard's people respected and liked Enos, of course, but along the last days she was understanding that affection's deepness.

Boss, Rosco, folks… everybody… and especially her family: she glanced at uncle Jesse's tight features by her side and at her cousins' in the front seat, Bo silently driving The General Lee and Luke staring at the road.

Boss, Rosco, folks… everybody… her family… and especially her: Daisy opened Enos' wallet and took off his ID card, staring at the small picture of him; inside his wallet also some pictures of her (a picture of her near a horse, her with him at the airport before his leaving, her at the Boar's Nest, her near a racing car during her fleeting career as racer). Daisy wondered how many pictures of her Enos cherished in his apartment beside the pictures in his wallet, maybe larger versions of the pictures she was looking at.

Her image in those pictures became blurred and she buried her face against uncle Jesse's shoulder, sobbing desperately, while uncle Jesse hugged her.

"What if Enos is dead? I can't live without him, uncle Jesse, I can't stand the idea I won't see him ever again. Why am I realizing how much I need him just now?" through her sobs, she managed to let go what lay heavy on her heart.

Uncle Jesse held her close while Bo and Luke remained silent.

* * *

Atlanta Medical Center's windows reflected the morning light but, despite the sunlight sparking on it, the high building looked like a cold and metallic object absorbing the sunlight and transforming it into an artificial light.

The Dukes came out The General Lee, indifferent to people looking at them because of their strange car, their coming out from its windows and their country look. Before to enter the building they looked at each other, sharing the same hope and fear.

Inside the hall, the same cold they felt outside: the tidy and shiny floor reflected the artificial light, and everything looked anonymous and professional, everything too much Hospital-like.

They walked to the counter where a nurse was ready to answer any kind of question from visitors. Just the counter between them and the nurse, they looked at each other, sharing again their hope and fear.

"Please, Madam," uncle Jesse cleared his voice, trying to ease the pesky sense of dryness in his throat, "four days ago a man was brought here from Rockdale County. He was severely injured," he glanced at his hands resting on the counter, his throat more and more dry and his hands more and more sweaty, "but he hasn't been identified, yet. That man could be a friend of us, Madam."

The nurse opened her eyes wide and nodded, "OK, wait a minute, please," she walked to the telephone hanging on the wall behind the counter and she grabbed the receiver, talking about "John Doe's friends" with her soft voice and nodding while she listened to the voice at the other side of the receiver. When she came back to the counter she stared at the Dukes, her eyes lingering on any of them, "We're going to take you to the man brought here four days ago. He hasn't been identified, yet, and we were waiting for someone who could identify him."

The Dukes glanced at each other, nobody being able to ask the nurse what was killing them: was the man still alive or were someone going to take them to the coroner's refrigerated room?

At the opposite side of the hall, the elevator's doors opened and a nurse came out, walking to them; the Dukes turned to her, trying to read into her features.

The nurse stood in front of them, "Come with me, please," then she turned round and walked to the elevator without waiting for any answer from them, so the Dukes simply followed her along the hall and finally inside the elevator. When she pushed the button with the number "5" on it, they held their breath, their mind running in unison: what was at the 5th floor? For sure not the coroner's refrigerating room, hope getting stronger in their heart, unless the nurse was taking them to a doctor who was going to explain them how John Doe died and finally to take them to the place they feared the most.

"Madam," uncle Jesse took his hat off, "please…"

"Doc Hunt is waiting for you. He's going to explain you what's happened to the man brought here four days ago," she stared at them, studying them, "then you're going to see him."

Daisy took Enos' wallet off her jeans' pocket, opening it with her trembling hands and giving Enos' ID card to the nurse, "This is our friend's ID."

The nurse took the card and watched it, "The picture is really small, but your friend looks like John Doe… I mean, the man brought here four days ago… we call him John Doe. In this picture he looks younger and his hair are a bit longer. Yeah, it could be, but…" she handed Daisy the card, "…we can't be sure of it until you see him. You are the only ones who can identify him."

Daisy nodded and slipped Enos' wallet into her pocket, her hope and fear not solved, yet. When they finally came out the elevator, a smell of disinfectant and soap assailed her, she stopped and grabbed Luke's arm, "Luke, I'm feeling sick."

Luke turned to her and wrapped his right arm around her shoulders, "Calm, Daisy. Stay calm. Come on," he helped her to walk along the corridor heading to Doc Hunt's office.

Though Luke's voice was calm, Daisy felt the gentle trembling in his hand: they were fighting against their worst fear but they couldn't run away.

When the nurse opened the office's door, Doc Hunt was waiting for them behind his desk; he stood up, "Please, sit down," and he showed them the chairs in front of his desk.

* * *

Alone in the corridor in front of the door of Doc Hunt's office, nurse Emily had a deep sigh: looking at that family she felt her heart cracking, her mind driven to another Hospital and to a different final. John Doe was alive, though still in coma, but he was going to recover; he wasn't a corpse like his son.

Washing away her painful memories, Emily repeated in her mind the name of the man those people were looking for: Enos Strate. The man in the small picture looked like John Doe, Emily was pretty sure he was John Doe, but she decided it was better not to delude them, 'cause pictures sometimes can betray people's eyes.

She came closer the window and looked at the city lighted by the sun.

After 10 minutes the door of Doc Hunt's office opened.

Emily turned to the door and looked at Doc Hunt, nodding at his silent order, then she focused on the men and the woman in front of her: in their eyes shock mixed with pain but also relief.

"OK, now I'm going to take you to the I.C.U. Before to go, I want to warn you that the I.C.U. is a department pretty different from any other department. We take care of people in really bad conditions, supporting their vital functions, and it means tubes, monitors, machines, and so on. It's pretty normal to us, but I understand it may shock someone who enters the I.C.U. for the first time," she smiled, a soft smile in order to support them, "Doc Hunt already told you your friend is safe, though still in coma, but he's going to wake up. We don't know when but he's showing positive signals, so we have just to wait and help him."

Emily's eyes lingered on any of them: the older man had blue eyes and a white beard, he had a red hat in his right hand and he was circling the woman's shoulders with his left arm; the woman was in her late twenties, hazel green eyes, long and curly hair, blue shirt, long legs wrapped in blue jeans, high-heeled brown boots; one of the young men had dark and curly hair, blue piercing eyes, blue checkered shirt, blue jeans and brown boots; the younger man had blond and curly hair, blue eyes (different shade from the older one), yellow shirt, blue jeans and brown boots.

"Come on," she turned round and she walked to the I.C.U. When they entered the department, she felt the men and the woman behind her slowing down a bit, probably holding their breath and looking at the wide space divided in several rooms by thin walls, in any room a patient: common reaction of people entering for the first time in the I.C.U.

She walked to John Doe's room and she turned to them, "This is the man we call John Doe," she stood aside and she let them see the man lying unconscious in the bed, observing their reaction.

The woman opened her eyes and mouth wide, her hands covering her mouth, "Enos! Oh my God! Enos!" She turned to the older man, "Uncle Jesse, he's Enos!" then she walked closer the bed and she knelt down, her right hand gently caressing the man's cheek while tears started to flow from her eyes, "Oh Enos! What's happened to you?"

The bearded man rested his right hand, his hat still in it, on his chest, his lips gently moving in what Emily read as a whispered prayer.

The brown-haired man remained still, his arms folded while he took a deep breath: perfect self-control of his gestures whereas his eyes showed all his pain and shock.

The blond man scratched his nape in frustration, walking around the bed like a lion in a cage, unable to control his emotions. He pointed at the man lying in the bed and he stared at the bearded man and at the brown-haired man, "Whosoever did it to Enos will pay for it! We have to find out what happened and who hurt him. Nobody can hurt someone like Enos, our best friend and Hazzard's best deputy ever!"

The older man nodded, "We're going to find whomsoever did it to Enos, Bo, but now, please, keep calm. When Enos will wake up, he'll tell us what happened to him."

The brown-haired man nodded too, "Uncle Jesse is right, Bo. The most important thing, now, is to know Enos is alive. We have found him and we're going to stay by his side 'til he'll wake up," he walked closer the bed and knelt near the young woman who was sobbing into the blankets, "Daisy, Enos is going to wake up. We have found him, so, please, stop crying and talk to him, maybe he can hear you," he turned to Emily, "Can he hear us?"

* * *

_Scent of soap and lavender, scent of Daisy's skin: scent of sun._

"_Can he hear us?"_

_Enos turned to Luke's voice, his hand on his eyes to screen the sunlight, "Hi Luke! I'm here!"_

"_Hey buddy, how are you?" Luke walked near Enos and sat down by his side, on the grass._

_Lying on the grass, Enos looked at the tree above his head and at the sun playing through its branches, "Daisy is still sleeping."_

_Daisy's head on his shoulder while she slept by his side, Enos had a deep breath and smelled every scent around him. _

_He was happy._

* * *

Emily shook her head, "We don't know what they feel or hear during coma, exactly, but … yeah… maybe he can hear you. Talk to him, I'm going to leave you alone for a while," she silently walked away, keeping her eyes on them from the counter placed in the middle of the wide space (strategic position in order to see every patient inside the I.C.U.).

She took John Doe's nursing record: he wasn't John Doe anymore, but Enos Strate, now, Hazzard's deputy.

* * *

**I have decided to keep two stories going at the same time, totally different stories.**

**Hope you're enjoying both of them... or at least one of them :-)**


	5. Tears

**TEARS**

Luke dialed the Hazzard Police Department's telephone number, waiting for Rosco's answer, while Bo rested against the wall of the waiting room, his left arm up and his hand against the wall.

"Rosco," Luke glanced at Bo, "this is Luke. The man is Enos. He's here, in the I.C.U., unconscious but alive."

Bo scratched his nape with his right hand and had a deep sigh.

"He's goin' to recover, don't worry, but actually he can't talk to us," Luke shook his head, "We can just wait."

Bo folded his arms and rested his back against the wall.

"I don't know when he'll wake up, nobody knows it, but doctors are optimistic 'bout it," the receiver pressed against his ear, Luke nodded at Rosco's words while Bo moved away from the wall and walked to the near couch, sinking into it.

"Bye Rosco," Luke put the receiver down and turned round, folding his arms and resting his back against the wall, mimicking Bo's previous posture, "Enos is alive, and this is the most important thing, Bo."

Bo stared at Luke, "Alive but…," he shook his head and averted his eyes from Luke, "… lying unconscious in that bed… those tubes, and monitors and… everything is so scaring."

Luke had a deep sigh and reached Bo on the couch, "This is exactly what that nurse told us, Bo. It's scaring but for sure less scaring than… you know what."

"You're right. When we arrived here we thought Enos could be dead, so we should be happy he's still alive, though seeing him that way scared us." Unable to remain still, Bo stood up and walked to the window of the small and empty waiting room, "This is a so beautiful day, outside, but I can't enjoy the sun now. I'm worried," he turned to Luke, "Daisy… I've never seen her that way. She was trembling like a leaf and she couldn't stop crying, and I don't know if I'm more saddened for Enos or for Daisy."

"Daisy is really strong, and she's perfectly able to react. Uncle Jesse is by her side, don't worry," he smiled, "and, if there's a person who could help Enos to wake up, that person would be Daisy."

Bo nodded and walked to the telephone hanging to the wall, "After Rosco, we should warn Cooter too. He's waiting for our call," he dialed Cooter's telephone number, waiting for his friend's answer.

Sitting on the couch, Luke folded his arms and stared at the ceiling, listening to Bo repeating his previous dialogue: "Yeah Cooter, the man is Enos, he's alive but still unconscious"… "He's in the I.C.U., and now Daisy and uncle Jesse are with him, whereas Luke and I are in the waiting room. Just two people for any patient are allowed to stay inside the I.C.U." … "Doctors say he's goin' to wake up but they don't know when" … "Bye Cooter."

Bo put the receiver down and reached Luke, sinking into the black leather couch.

They both had a deep sigh.

* * *

Uncle Jesse's hand squeezed Daisy's shoulder.

Daisy wiped away the tears on her face and smiled, looking at her uncle, "Now I'm feeling better, uncle Jesse, don't worry. I cried both for the pain to see Enos this way but also for the relief to know he's alive. He'll wake up, and I'll be by his side when it'll happen."

Uncle Jesse nodded and smiled.

Daisy's right hand reached Enos' one and grabbed it, squeezing it, while her left hand caressed his hair, "Hey sugar, you aren't alone. Can you hear me?"

Sitting on their chairs, Daisy and uncle Jesse remained quiet; in the little room just the beeps of the monitor checking Enos' vital functions and the noise of the ventilator pumping air inside his lungs. Daisy had a deep sigh and broke that anomalous silence and those unnatural noises, "That nurse was right 'bout how… strange and scaring this department is."

'That nurse', evoked by Daisy, came closer Enos' bed, "Sorry for disturbing you, but I need your friend's ID card," she smiled and she stretched her arm out to take the card Daisy was giving her, "Thanks."

Daisy glanced at the name on the nurse's uniform and, when the nurse turned round to go back to the counter, she called her, "Nurse Emily, thanks for everything you're doin' for Enos," she stretched her arm out and she shook hands with the nurse, "My name is Daisy Duke, this is my uncle Jesse Duke, and the boys with us are Luke and Bo Duke, my cousins."

Nurse Emily smiled and nodded, "I'm just doin' my job."

After nurse Emily's leaving, Daisy sat down again on her chair and her hands reached Enos, restoring their previous position, "Can you hear me, sugar?"

* * *

_Enos opened his eyes and looked at Daisy._

_Lying on the grass, his head on her lap while she was sitting with her back against the tree, he smiled: she was looking at him, her head bent and her hair like a sort of halo, the sun turning the brown into a blonde shade._

"_Can you hear me, sugar?" Her right hand reached his one and squeezed it while her left hand caressed his hair and then slid from his hair to his cheek and finally to his shoulder._

"_I love you so much, Enos. Do you know it?"_

_Her words sounded muffled and distant, but Enos caught the sense in it. _

_His heart filled of warmth and happiness, he closed his eyes and he squeezed her hand._

_Tears of joy flowed from his eyes._

* * *

Daisy's hand slid from Enos' hair to his cheek and finally to his shoulder, squeezing it, "I love you so much, Enos. Do you know it?"

When she felt his hand gently squeezing her one, just an allusion of squeeze but anyway a squeeze, Daisy's heart skipped a bit. She turned to uncle Jesse, "Uncle Jesse, he's squeezing my hand," then she turned to Enos, "Enos! Please, open your eyes!"

When tears flowed from Enos' eyes, few and fleeting tears but tears, Daisy burst out crying, both of pain and joy.

* * *

Emily looked at Daisy and Jesse Duke, realizing that something was going on. She rested the nursing record and the ID card of the man on the counter and walked to the bed.

The young woman looked at her, both with pain and hope, "He squeezed my hand, I felt it and…" she glanced at the man and then again at the nurse, "he's crying."

Emily checked the monitors and smiled, "Positive signs."

Jesse Duke circled her niece's shoulders with his right arm and stared at Emily, "Is he suffering?"

Emily shook her head, "I don't think he is suffering, don't worry. Keep on talking to him."

From the counter, Emily kept on observing the young woman and her uncle: Daisy Duke caressed the unconscious man and talked to him, smiling as if the man could see her, while the woman's uncle circled her shoulders with his arm.

* * *

Bo and Luke stood up and walked to uncle Jesse and Daisy entering the waiting room, reading their features: emotional exhaustion after a roller-coaster of sadness and joy.

"Visiting time is over," Daisy smiled, "but Enos…" her eyes sparked, "… he squeezed my hand. The nurse said it's a really positive sign." She preferred to avoid the part about Enos' tears.

"Oh great!" Bo patted Luke's shoulder and smiled, relieved.

"I guess ol' Enos is going to wake up very soon with you by his side," Luke smiled and folded his arms, regaining his self control and his knowing attitude.

"Did you call Rosco and Cooter? They're waiting for our call": uncle Jesse's pragmatism.

"Of course uncle Jesse," Bo pointed at the phone hanging on the wall, "Rosco for sure told it to Boss, and Boss to Lulu, and… now I think everybody in Hazzard knows about Enos."

They had a brief laugh, washing away all the worrisome and fears they shared when they entered the Hospital just some hours before.

"OK, time to go back to Hazzard," Luke walked to the door.

Walking along the corridor that brought them there and entering the elevator, they realized how much different everything looked like: the corridor looked less dark, the elevator less cold and metallic, the hall less anonymous and professional.

Outside, the sun was still sparking on the building but now the light looked less metallic and warmer.

They walked to The General Lee and they came in, indifferent to people looking at their strange way to enter the car.

Finally inside the car, Daisy sank into the back seat and had a deep breath, "I feel like if I died and then come back to life. If I think of our way to the Hospital and what was goin' on in our mind," she shook her head, "I'm glad we've found Enos, alive, though I'm still shocked 'bout him lying in that bed, but he's goin' to recover and it's the only important thing, now."

Uncle Jesse nodded, "Maybe Enos will need some time to wake up, but we'll come here every day 'til his recover, and we'll help him when he'll come back to Hazzard."

"And we'll find whomsoever did it to him," Bo clasped his hands around the wheel.

"Especially 'cause whosoever did it to Enos can decide to bring to an end his purpose," Luke dampened everybody's enthusiasm, but nobody could deny the possible and terrific truth in his words.

"We'll protect Enos," Bo glanced at Luke, "when he'll wake up we'll know what happened and so who is the culprit, how to find him (or them) and how to stop any possible harm."

Luke, Daisy and uncle Jesse nodded.

* * *

The news about Enos ran in the town quicker than The General Lee; everybody was talking about it with a mix of shock, sadness and relief, sharing the Dukes' emotions.

Rosco was moving inside the Police Department in a sort of circular dance, Flash in his arms, tuning a repeated "Dipstick is back" alternated to his characteristic laugh.

From time to time Boss came out his office, his "Stop it, Rosco, and go work! I'm not paying you for dancing with a dog" harsh like usual, though everybody who knew Boss pretty well could catch a pitch of relief in his voice.

Everybody shared the same relief, except…

… the man gritted his teeth: he was pretty sure Enos Strate was dead when he left his body in Rockdale County. He shook his head and he walked away from the crowd chatting in front of the Police Department: it didn't matter, Enos Strate probably learned the lesson, and he could teach the deputy a new lesson if it was necessary, the final lesson. The deputy couldn't recognize him 'cause that night he wore a ski mask, and people couldn't suspect him 'cause he was a simple and honest citizen: he just had to act like usual.


End file.
